Happy Anniversary!

In honor of our upcoming 35th anniversary, today I ordered a new mattress. Think it was time?

We've Been Called Worse Things

The Economist online rag ran an article recently called God-Loving Linguists. Click the link to read it, I think you'll find it interesting. Joe G., the main linguist talked about in the article, was Gary's Ph.D supervisor at Cornell. The story is mostly about the Ethnologue (of which Gary is the executive editor).

I don't expect Rachel will ever be getting another one of these, so instead of throwing it away, I replaced the cuffs. Well, not exactly "replaced," but I removed the cuffs, remodeled the sleeves and repaired the cuffs, and then put the cuffs back on.

How to Communicate in Writing*

I don't have a degree in English or Communications or Writing or anything like that, but I have learned a few things over the years about how to write things down in order to get your idea across.

• Know the difference between the forest and the trees. It is very important to start with an Overview that includes the big ideas, without the clutter of details at that point.
• Sometimes it might be necessary to state assumptions like who the intended audience is (that is, what previous knowledge the audience has that makes them able to learn this new thing).
• Think hard about the order in which concepts have to be presented--sometimes order is not so important, but usually it is.
• Present new information at the right rate. Not too fast, and not too slow.
• Think about the new questions your information is going to provoke, and answer them at the appropriate spot in your discourse. Often a parenthetical comment works well to do this.
  
• Put like things together. Group the details such the reader knows what larger concept they are trying to illuminate.
  
• Try to put yourself into the place of the reader when you review your work.
• Assume that only the rare geniuses among us can write something well the first time. The rest of us MUST review, edit, re-read, read out loud and edit again.

*Yeah, since this is my blog, I can give advice even if no one wants it and no one asked for it. :-)

Do You See What I See?

You know, I keep threatening to write a book called "Only At My Place of Work." It will be a funny book, a tally of the the comical things that happen around here. I'm collecting these tidbits in this blog for safekeeping.

Today I overheard this conversation, which, like so many of my episodes, has to do with the boutique. Today I heard a young woman telling about finding a box of contacts (those disposable kind) in the boutique. Now WHO would put such a thing in the boutique in the first place?? I have no idea! But this student was SO happy because "these contacts are the same brand and the same prescription that I need for my left eye!"

World Series!!

It was a lot of fun. See my web album for details.

A Food Post

The person who figured out that you can cook sweet corn in the microwave without doing a single thing to it ahead of time was a genius. Microwave for 2-3 minutes, let it cool for a few minutes, and take the husk off. The silks come right off with the husks. Brilliant!

I'm short on things to blog about, so I'm blogging about food. Yes, I guess I am an emotional eater, or whatever they call those people who eat when they're happy, sad, discouraged, encouraged, etc. Homemade pizza which I hardly ever make anymore now that my nest is empty.

I baked a silly cake during the first World Series game, and it didn't help the Rangers at all.

Zero

When am I going to learn that if I have zero expectations, I won't be disappointed??

Blogging and Baseball

I've pretty much been neglecting this blog of late. Most of my blogging energies have been on my family blog (see link on right).

Tonight I'm sitting in the living room watching Game 2 of the World Series, swapping Facebook comments about the game with friends, and realizing I could could be blogging on this nifty netbook while watching the game.

I'm too old to be bragging about my kids, but they all had good things to report recently: Andrew scored well on the GRE and really well on the writing section of it. Rachel had a good week getting caught up on things in general. And David emailed us today saying he had won 1st price for his poster at the grad school symposium and that prize actually had $200 attached to it.

Ouch, this game 2 is getting UGLY! I hope the Rangers do better when they get back to Arlington.

Tool for Hanging My Birdfeeders

 

I'm kind of disappointed in how few birds I'm seeing in my back yard these days. But I have hopes I'll see more when it gets a big colder and the leaves have fallen.

I made myself a rod with a hook on the top for putting the feeders up and down. It is mostly made from an old swiffer, and then I added a length to it from another small handled appliance I stole out of the neighbor's garbage can. The two rods were of different diameters, so they wouldn't just screw together. I jerryrigged them with some scrap pieces of wood and some epoxy putty. I'd still like it to be a bit longer, so if I ever see another swiffer at a garage sale, I'll grab it.

"New" Computer Bag for 17inch Laptop

Gary took my advice and got a large laptop for his work traveling machine. He really didn't want the extra weight, but I talked him into it based on the fact that he could actually see it better. It recently arrived. Next problem, find a computer bag--one that would hold a large laptop and had wheels.

We decided rather than trying to find another bag, we would try to retrofit a nice carry-on bag that we already owned. The computer pocket inside the bag's outer compartment was intended for around a 12" laptop, so we had to find a way to enlarge it.

I decided to cut the bottom out of the pocket, leaving the sides intact, and then placing a foam bumper at the bottom of the suitcase compartment where the laptop would rest. I cut a piece of foam just the right size,

and then encased it in clear tape to make it both stronger and to keep the little pieces from crumbling.

I do believe we have a winner! Now we just hope Gary actually likes his new computer and doesn't end up wishing he had gotten a littler one.

Boiler Onions

Today I walked down to the small communal kitchen in my office building and found a paper bag that said on the outside: Help Yourself. Inside were a handful of small, dry onions.

Usually it is day-old bread or garbage bags full of old donuts or expired Easter cookies. But not today--today it was onions. So, yes, I took one. One never knows when one might need a boiler onion.

This is going into the book I'm going to write someday called Only At My Place of Work.

Wrong Person

I have started collecting all the email that I have been receiving for another person of the same name. No, not spam. Real emails about business deals and her child's school. I wish I knew what her REAL email address is because then I could pass on all this misdirected mail I'm getting. My gmail account uses the form firstname.lastname@gmail.com and the email I get for the other person comes as firstnamelastname@gmail.com. But the Gmail help files insist that periods are ignored by their computer, so both forms are equal.

I also suspect, based on the contents of the emails, that this other person may have started with a Googlemail.com account and maybe she lived in England. But I"m not sure about that, and the Gmail Help files claim that shouldn't cause the problem either.

But I continue to get her mail. It is annoying, and it makes me wonder if she is getting MY mail.

Social?

Wish I had a real live friend to go see the FB movie with. All my friends work too much, live too far away, or else exist only in the cloud. Or are blind--don't want to forget them.

Spiders

I don't really like spiders, but I do have a grudging respect for them. I mean, how can such a little creature build such an amazing web?

This morning was the first cool morning we've had in months, but it was also foggy from yesterday's rain. The weather conditions were just perfect for leaving tiny droplets on all the spiderwebs around.

Can you believe a spider made this single thread from one tree to another? How did he do that?

Watching Over You, Part 2

Well, it might in fact be more than part 2!

Yesterday my daughter called me at work, in a panic, saying her work computer wouldn't boot up. She described a computer that had power, but sounded like it was about to die. I went there and tried the hard reboot. No luck. I tried the safe mode boot, and the other types listed on that opening screen. No luck with any of them. I tried about 7 or 8 times. On the 8th time, it booted. In safe mode.

I immediately starting making a back up--you know, the back up she was going to do, oh, 6 weeks ago. Then I went and downloaded the anti-spam software that the IT help desk suggested and let it run. For 1 hour and 7 minutes. It found two items which I said to remove. It said "reboot to complete the process." So I did, or at least I tried to. The next thing was a single beep saying "Fan error." It took its last gasp and died.

So she's still stressed and frustrated and getting further behind with her job, but, on the other hand, she has a backup.

Got Him!

The ruby-throated hummingbird finally stood still long enough for me to take his photo. The male seemed a bit less skittish than the female who is usually at this feeder right outside my computer window.

In other news, if you want to see me when I was skinny and my husband had hair, go take a look at some of the slides I've been scanning:
http://picasaweb.google.com/linda.simons/1976POCPacificOrientationCourseAkaJungleCamp#

Shopping at Aldi's

They have recently opened an Aldi's grocery store nearby. I think there was a need for such a type of store and it appears to be doing a pretty good business. I had never heard of this grocery chain, but I like it. It is the opposite of an upscale place like Whole Foods--it is just a no-nonsense store with lots of items, but way fewer options with those items. For instance, there will be one brand in one size, rather than multiple brands in multiple sizes. There are some brand name items, but even more of their own store brand. The shelves are stocked with boxes of items, not items lined up nicely by a stocker. Another good thing is how fast the checkers work.

The prices are great. I've been surprised how little I've spent each time I've gone there. A gallon of milk is $1.50 and a dozen eggs went up to $.59 after the come-on price of $.49.

They have some reduced-calorie versions of items, but not all I've come to buy from Tom Thumb. The worst part of the store is their sad produce section. The fruits and veggies that are there are very cheap, but not very fresh looking. I am likely to keep making my weekly trip to Cox Farms Market.

And did I mention how cheap the prices are? That is the best part.

No, I spoke too soon. The best part is how much less time it takes to go shopping when you don't have to decide between so many choices! I know that is not really the American Way, but I'm not so fussy and I like having fewer choices if it means lower prices.

This chain also saves money by making you put a quarter deposit in the shopping cart which you get back when you return it--that saves hiring a cart wrangler. And they make you pay for your grocery bags, so that encourages people like me to use their reusable bags. And it also gives people like me a chance to show off the gifts they got while in the DR recently.

The Nest is Even Emptier

White Kitty showed up at our door as a stray the night our oldest child graduated from HS. It took three days of the kids begging before Gary would agree to take her in, and as soon as she came in the house she jumped up on the table and said, "Well, it's about time!"

We knew she was soon to die, but we didn't really think she'd be carried off by a coyote. I thought she'd just die of old age. Sigh.

See more details and photos on my family blog, if you're interested (link is on the right). I'm not overly sentimental, but White Kitty was part of the family.

One-Tenth Grateful

My personality makes me jump whenever someone personally asks me for help. I just naturally say yes to a live human who has the notion to look me in the eye and ask for something. (On the other hand, I'm quite able to ignore all those impersonal pleas that come from billboards, tv, junk mail and pulpits.) But if a friend or relative directly and personally asks for help, I rarely say no.

I think this is because my love language is Acts of Service:

Acts of Service

Can vacuuming the floors really be an expression of love? Absolutely! Anything you do to ease the burden of responsibilities weighing on an “Acts of Service” person will speak volumes. The words he or she most want to hear: “Let me do that for you.” Laziness, broken commitments, and making more work for them tell speakers of this language their feelings don’t matter

So if it is so natural for me to say yes, why do I so often feel taken advantage of? I crave to be appreciated, and to hear that the recipient of my service really understands what I've done and really is grateful. I may intellectually know that they are happy for my help, but yet I want to hear them carefully and specifically acknowledge my work and thank me.

Jesus might have noticed the same thing with the people he helped, but, being sinless, he didn't let it bother him :-) The ten lepers personally asked for help, and Jesus quickly and gladly gave it. But only one recipient of healing expressed his gratitude:

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" 14 When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. 15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him--and he was a Samaritan. 17 Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" 19 Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
Luke 17:11-19 NIV

So, if Jesus only got one-tenth of the thanks that he deserved, perhaps I shouldn't expect more.